Why Office Pods Are The Future
Office history
The German word “Bürolandschaft” translates as ‘office landscaping’ and it was from this that the first open plan agile offices were built. The socialist ideology of keeping the workforce together as part of one happy hive-mind collective was quickly picked up by English and American planners. The open plan office was born and was considered the ultimate experience in sleek co-working as well as creative meeting spaces. The reasoning was simple: people placed together in a large room would be able to better seek each other’s assistance, work more effectively and hold each other to account. There were also huge financial savings to be made by moving workers out of an expensive individual office.
The current situation
There was one problem: human beings. Research would later show that workers are far more likely to distract each other than assist each other. Open-plan offices facilitate the spread of infectious diseases and most workers become unhappy with noise levels, light levels, and a fixed office temperature. Human beings unable to tweak their environmental controls to suit their needs become unhappy. When an office space is designed to make everyone happy, the usual result is that nobody is.
The future office
Designers and architects have gone back to the drawing board and the future is clear. Workers need a choice. There is a balance to be struck between an egalitarian open plan office which fosters social interaction and private, quiet spaces in which workers can concentrate without distraction.
This is why office meeting pods and office phone booths are where the workforce heads at key times during the working week. Teams of workers are better placed than ever before to make decisions about when a relaxed, social approach to work is needed and when it’s time for contemplation and top levels of focus.
An office booth allows workers to temporarily step out of the hubbub of their open plan environment and engage entirely on a process. Office meeting room design ideas are consequently becoming more innovative and aesthetically appealing. Companies are waking up very quickly to the fact that providing a range of environments for workers will result in a range of different behaviours. Some of these can be incredibly advantageous to a company attempting to maximise productivity.
More attention is being paid to colour palettes, lighting fixtures and ergonomically designed furniture than ever before. The era of the 1950’s socialist hive is over. The future of self-selecting efficiency is now upon us.
To know more, download a price list of our modern acoustic office pods and inspire yourself with some ideas of how your office furniture can be upgraded to a high quality environment in a way that will delight workers.
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